Goodbye
by A Natsume Yuujinchou lover
Summary: WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS from Retrace 92. DON'T READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE CHAPTER. She continues to watch without a word... but not all her thoughts are silent.


**[A/N] & [Disclaimer]:** Pandora Hearts and its characters belong to Mochizuki Jun!

I left the warning in the summary, but I'm still warning any unsuspecting readers who still decide to open this.

**A GIGANTIC SPOILER for RETRACE 92. And probably the whole series.**

**Don't read any further if you haven't read the chapter. There's a reason why I left this story without any chosen character.**

If you want to read the chapter go to dm5 and search 潘朵拉之心. It's in Chinese though.

Some of the positions of the characters/translations may be wrong and I dunno if whatever happened is set in stone, but if I messed up something kindly leave it in a review or PM. This is also my first attempt at something more 1st Person POV so do bear with any grammar mistakes here and there.

That said, enjoy.

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My name is Emily.

I am the Mad Hatter- Xerxes Break's- partner.

I'm not usually noticed by people because I don't appear very often, but I've been a recurring character since Volume 2.

Now that I look back at my debut, it seems I looked a lot more sentimental and weirder than I do now. I'm really sorry about that.

My personification has also appeared in the extras in the volumes in multiple poses, as well as the role of the assistant in the detective bureau extra.

At times I'll encounter some troubles in which I'll be separated from **him**, but right now, I'm here.

Sitting on **your** shoulder is definitely the most peaceful place to be...

Partner.

_- Emily, Pandora Hearts chapter 92_

* * *

My partner's been fighting this one-sided battle for far too long.

He doesn't realize it, but he's been using the powers of his Chain more often than he ever had to for the past 10 years.

He probably didn't even realize I fell off his shoulder when the battle started.

Well, it's for the best. I know he wouldn't want to see me hurt or injured during any of his fights.

But it hurts me, it really does.

It hurts me to see him fighting the other two, all three now out of my line of sight and on the top of that flight of stairs in front of that huge, chained gate.

His sight is gone. His body's getting weaker with every swing of his sword.

Yet... He continues to fight.

...

...

An earthquake rumbles in this illusionary space.

I hear a loud bang, and from the limited range I see my partner hit his head against the newel.

I would gasp, call his name, ask him if he were alright as I saw his head droop slightly, blood trickling down the left side of his face.

If I could speak, eat, and walk like humans do, I would fight along my partner's side and act as his missing right eye instead of that useless coward who's afraid of cats.

... I am a doll. What can I do?

...

...

My partner's eyes open once more. He moves away from the newel. I can't see what's going on.

...

...

I hear the sound of swords clashing. And yells. They're coming from both my partner and the one he calls a 'rat'.

_"It's because you're always seeking redemption in the past that you can't move forward. No matter how much you desire the past, there is no future for you there!"_

The nagging feeling at the back of my head is acting up again... Something bad is going to happen. I just know it.

...

...

Silence. Then coughing.

_"I... can't... Just... just a little while longer... will do..."_

My partner... He's at his limit.

No, he's way past his limit. Even a doll such as myself can tell.

Then the familiar voice of that golden haired brat rings softly in the hall, breaking my trail of thought on that matter.

My partner walks nearer to the staircase where I can see him and stretches out his hand. Without much of a warning, a portion of the 'wall' shatters large enough for the golden haired brat and his friends to enter. They welcome Break warmly, even commenting worriedly on all the blood on him, but that only made me feel worse.

My partner gently placed his right hand over the golden haired brat's determined left fist. He speaks again.

_"Go, Oz-kun. Glen Baskerville has passed through the gate and is headed to the past. Vincent-sama is with him."_

_"Hurry catch up to them. This is the thing only you yourself can do, isn't it?"_

The golden haired brat nods with as much conviction as he had started out with, turning to tell his friends that it was time to leave. Then my partner releases the light grip on the boy's fist, stopping him in his tracks. The next words he spoke were the ones I dreaded hearing the most.

_"I... want to stay here."_

_"I'll stay here to prevent any unnecessary people from going through the gate. And I also need to find Ojou-sama..."_

_"... Okay?"_

Everyone freezes upon hearing those words. They know what my partner meant...

It... is already too late for him.

_"Have a safe trip."_

My partner waves goodbye... It's the last they'll get from him ever again.

...

...

He falls to the ground after walking down that long flight of steps. It took him only a minute, but for me, every step he took seemed to take an hour. Like each stair was one step closer to his impending fate.

As his figure got closer and closer within my line of sight, I can now see how badly injured he is; how _broken_ my partner is.

He had fought his past, his fears, his pains... And all that's left is that of a- I'm reluctant to say this- _dying_ human, unable to move with his lifespan worn out and stretched to its very limits.

He knows that too. And when the two people he treasured the most broke through another part of the 'wall'...

He cried.

I've never seen him cry.

It made me cry too.

It's funny how something such as myself feels sadness from watching someone precious to me cry.

It's ironic that I even have feelings in the first place.

I am but a mere doll, the representation of the girl my partner used to love and care for a long time ago.

Nevertheless, I cried with him.

I cried when I see him sit up with the tiniest bit of energy he had left.

I cried as the two humans run towards him and held him up.

I cried as he hugs them tight, not wanting to go; to leave them.

I cried upon seeing his head droop forward, pressing his cheek on the left shoulder of his 'friend'... That same spot I always sit on his shoulder.

I cried as he spoke his last words.

_"Sharon... Reim... I..."_

_"... I don't want to die..."_

_"I..."_

_"... Still want to stay here..."_

He said something else afterwards, but I wasn't listening anymore.

I continued to cry as I watch his eyes slowly slide shut.

I continued to cry when I see his arms go limp in the two's embrace.

Then I cried my own words of farewell.

**Goodbye, Xerxes Break... My partner... And best friend.**

- In memory of Xerxes Break -

- End -

* * *

Newel (taken from Austinstairs): the large vertical, structural component extending vertically from the thread (or near the thread) ending at the handrail; often placed at regular intervals, turns or transitions of the railing; also called a newel post


End file.
